Research On Identification Of Pickpocketing

Pickpocketing has been considered an offence since 2011.From then on,pickpocketing has been widely discussed and it is generally viewed that only when a pickpocket's behavior constitutes a crime defined as such by the law should the pickpocket be convicted and punished.Clearly,pickpocketing is a consequential offence that requires further differentiation between accomplishment and attempt.Meanwhile,pickpocketing is usually accompanied with other behaviors,making the judicial determination highly complex.All these issues are worth discussing among law practitioners.The prosecution against pickpockets has undeniably reduced the crime in the public and yet,it is expected that an effective punishment system can be set up on the basis of the criminal law and other applicable laws to combat the crime.Pickpockets are often found in large public spaces,especially in the crowded ones.They steal money or other valuables from the persons by approaching them without them noticing the theft at the time,which results in serious security problems in the society.Pickpocketing not only constitutes an infringement of the victims' property and personal rights,but also violates the public order and good morals.It poses a real threat to the public by undermining their sense of security and their faith in the judicial authority.According to the Amendment VIII to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China,pickpocketing is a form of theft subject to criminal conviction.As defined by the criminal law,pickpocketing refers to the act of a thief who secretly steals money or other carry-on property from the person of another.Pickpocketing,as defined by the law,is a form of theft.However,it is difficult for judicial practitioners to solve pick pocketing cases as there is a lack of universal rules and regulations supporting the punishment of such commonnuisance despite its high prevalence.The first part of this article defined pick pocketing and introduced the evolution of pickpocketing.Meanwhile,it illustrated the issues involved in pickpocketing and discussed the existing cases brought by judicial authorities.Earlier,the provisions for pickpockets were largely interpreted by the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate,which basically involved administrative punishment and re-education through labor.Criminal punishment only applied to severe cases.In the Amendment VIII to the Criminal Law,all pickpockets are subject to criminal punishment on the ground that pickpocketing is not only a serious personal flaw,but also a great social evil.Based on the fact that pickpocketing is defined by the criminal law as a major crime,it becomes high on the list of priorities to accurately interpret and identify pickpocketing.To this end,the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate jointly issued Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Handling of Criminal Cases of Theft in 2013 and defined pickpocketing as the act of a thief who secretly steals money or other carry-on property from the person of another in a public place or on a public transport vehicle.This judicial interpretation given by the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate only framed the concept of pickpocketing and introduced its characteristics without offering clear guidance on judicial practice.The second part of this article introduced several cases that involved pickpocketing in the judicial practice to discuss the conviction of pickpockets—whether pickpocketing is a crime regardless of circumstances,different interpretations of stealing carry-ons,the necessity of classifying pickpocketing as accomplishment and attempt and the measurement of penalty for pickpocketing and other forms of larceny.Based on in-depth analysis of the judicial cases,the author of this article introduced different opinions on the issue and expressed his/her own point of view—pickpocketing should not be solely subject to the criminal law.The measurement of punishment and penalty should include the items having been stolen while other relevant factors also should be taken into consideration;the definition of "carry-ons" should be further specified;for attempted pickpocketing,only the severe cases should be subject to criminal punishment.In the third part,this author put forward several suggestions on refining the criteria for the judicial determination of pickpocketing based on the analysis of the aforementioned judicial cases,which hopefully standardizes the judicial determination of pickpocketing cases and the corresponding law enforcement,resolves the disputes arising from judicial practice in relation to pickpocketing cases and makes a pickpocket act cautiously in consequence of the penalty received for a previous offence.